American Airlines and United Airlines will stop blocking seats next month and more aggressively book flights to capacity. Standbys will also no longer be limited. Expect even fuller flights.
American + United Will Pack Planes To 100%
American Airlines currently books flights to 85%. This odd policy has not guaranteed anyone in particular a middle seat, but left a handful of passengers with open seats between them. Starting next month, that cap will be lifted.
United Airlines has never promised an open middle seat, but has blocked middle seat selection in advance of travel, filling up those seats only if necessary at the gate. Lately, that has been on nearly every flight as demand has returned faster than capacity minus middle seats. Like American, United will more aggressively sell seats to capacity starting on July 1, 2020 and not even pretend to block middle seats any longer.
You Don’t Have To Step On Full Flight…
Keep in mind that at both on American and United, if your flight is too full you can opt to take an alternate flight at no charge.
That’s great in theory, but so few take advantage because most flights are now full and with flights schedules limited, it is not always viable to wait.
Just keep in mind that American and United will continue to notify you via email the day before the flight if it expects the flight to be more than 70% full. In that case, you can move to another flight for free (change fees already waived, but fare differences also waived in this case) but cannot receive a refund.
Packed Planes = A Reprieve For American + United Employee Standbys
As part of its announcement, United Airlines told employees it would no longer limit standby travel. Previously, United would not board standbys if a flight was more than 70% full. Employees and family members had been essentially unable to standby travel over the last two months. Same at American Airlines, where the cap was 85%. The July 1st change will help many employees at both airlines start moving again.
A Contrast With Delta, JetBlue, And Southwest
As I wrote about previously, these competing models are a great business case experiment. Delta, JetBlue, and Southwest made the deliberate choice to leave middle seats open throughout the summer.
Will we see a premium charge to fly these airlines? Will it lead to more business?
While I do think airlines may be able to get away with a slight premium for open middle seats, it won’t stop American and United from filling up their planes. Capacity remains so severely depressed that demand is likely to catch supply this summer.
> Read More: Delta’s Bid To Become The Premium U.S. Airline
CONCLUSION
Expect fuller flights on American and United this summer, as both will abandon all pretenses of social distancing onboard, with focus instead of sanitation and personal protective equipment. U.S. carriers often move in lock step, but that is not the case here. It will be interesting to see if the gamble to continue blocking seats is just revenue left on the table or a smart business move that will win long-term loyalty.
image: @ethanjweiss / Twitter
Matt,
So do you believe planes will be full this summer, or at there will be more lockdowns and travel restrictions (as you indicated yesterday)? Both can’t be true
Honestly, I think there will be more lockdowns and the compliance rate will be much less than the first time around. I do expect bars, concerts, churches, and restaurants to be closed again. I don’t expect flights to be grounded.
There will probably be more lockdowns, but governments seem to be very reluctant to close down restaurants. Even TX, FL, AZ and CA haven’t closed down restaurants there. I think you will see more stringent enforcement of social distancing within restaurants. Travel will still be worth it to many under these conditions
I said it yesterday and I’ll say it again – whether you like it or not, ain’t gonna happen. Closing bars and reduced capacity in restaurants, yes, but that’s it. The federal courts have already slapped down NYC and NYS for restricting church gatherings while using a double standard for politically approved protests. I guarantee any attempt at full-scale lockdowns will be met with similar court challenges elsewhere (and virtually zero compliance anyway).
But states attempting to ban visitors from other states with uncontained spread? Yes, and that’s what you should really be concerned about if you’re trying to make plans.
I tell ya, flights already full as of 6/17 when I flew from sfo to Dallas. Was crazy airports practicing social distancing then they heard you into a plane thats full 747/ 800 series.
Quite disappointed with American airlines. Wife says she won’t fly with them again. Probably because as we walked up to the boarding gate they close the door and wouldn’t let as board said time was up. Booked us on another flight. Was the shits headed to my father’s funeral. And they derailed us.
Having an empty middle seat is NOT social distancing. It is detrimental to public health to say this. People should not relax their PPE stance just because there is no one sitting next to them.
News flash – the airlines dropped that ridiculous idea of six feet social distancing about 5-6 weeks ago. There was never six feet of distance possible except during the first few weeks of lockdown when 9-10 people at most were flying on any given flight.
They secretly did it this week. Didn’t even tell the flight attendants about it. Passengers arrived and sat in the “blocked” seats. Looking at the boarding pass confirming their assigned seat.
How does southwest block middle seats if there are no assigned seats
They only sell to 2/3 capacity.
And yet American cut food sighting “safety concerns”. So many reasons I’m happy to be with Delta.
Matthew, a question. I am traveling in October with my wife and infant son, and United would not let us book 2 seats next to each other. Can we call and get this overridden?
Yes.
WILL? They already ARE!
I recently flew two segments on SWA: modified boarding process, FAs properly wearing masks, middle seats empty.
…and then two segments on AA: same boarding process, every seat full on both flights, CLT was as busy as the day before Thanksgiving — no social distancing interventions at all at CLT — and FAs wearing masks below their noses. AA doesn’t give a darn about their passengers.
Did I prefer the SWA flights? Yes.
Do I really care if the middle seat is empty? No.
Flights with HEPA filters and masks are perfectly safe — safer than walking around my local downtown where people constantly spit and cough — and it’s really irrelevant whether or not there’s somebody sitting right next to me or just in front of and back of me.
You forgot to add Alaska to your list of airlines that blocks middle seats on all flights.
Thanks! I was going to point that out. We’re #5 and get overlooked a lot in this blog, though JetBlue, Allegiant, Spirit and Frontier get covered. All together they’re smaller than we are.
I would feel safer on a plane right now than any grocery store. Half the people not wearing masks, half of those who are wearing them wrong, and social distancing is like 6 inches, not feet.
I flew FOUR American flights last week and they were all full to the brim. In fact I read the first “breaking news” article while boarding. Why is this lie being perpetrated? Why aren’t they boarding from the back to ease social distancing?
unabashedly pack planes?….aggressively book flights to capacity? WOW. You do realize airlines are in the business of selling seats on airplanes, right?
How does one “aggressively” book?
What is the difference between a packed flight and and “unabashedly” packed flight?
Am thinking you had a word minimum requirement on this piece of fluff….
There’s a difference between quietly packing planes while stressing blocked middle seats and social distancing versus saying no more of that, we’ll pack planes to capacity. There’s a difference between only booking flights to 85% and booking them to 100%. So yes, unabashedly or aggressively are appropriate terms. And for the record, I personally applaud those moves and think open middle seats on airplanes are unnecessary and counterproductive.